Material cleaning apparatus



June 11, 1968 T. F. GARLAND 3,387,709

MATERIAL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 v 19-1 z! 4/ z;

33 g 4 X3, l

f 1T 2'7 J INVENTOR. 111500025 r-T GAELAND I rmavsws June 11, 1968 F, GARLAND 3,387,709

MATERIAL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Shee 2 INVENTOR.

THEODOEEI F. GARLAND ,MQ M

A TQZ/VEVS United States Patent 3,387,709 MATERIAL CLEANING APPARATUS Theodore F. Garland, 1226 N. 1st, Fargo, N. Dak. 58102 Filed Aug. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 570,900 4 Claims. (cl. 209-458) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for cleaning gravel and the like, comprising a support frame having a plurality of elongate similar channel shaped inclined, tapered fiumes, each mounted on the frame for pivotal movement adjacent its upper end about a transverse axis. Said fiumes being arranged in a series so that material being cleaned is conveyed from one flume to another. Splitter means for each fiume located adjacent the discharge end thereof and comprising a housing having a skimmer plate therein. A linkage means connecting each housing to its associated flume to permit relative vertical movement between the fiume and the housing between an upper operative position and a lowered inoperative position. The skimmer plate causing the flowing particulate material to be discharged from the flume in a. substantially single stream when the flurne and housing are in the inoperative lowered position. The skimmer plate being positioned above the bottom wall of the flume when the flume and housing are in the operative position to cause the stratified flowing particulate ma terial to be discharged from the flume into an upper and lower stream whereby said streams of material may be collected. Means for producing control shifting movement between the flume and the housing.

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning particulate material such as gravel, sand or the like and more particularly relates to separating fine particulate material typically less than approximately A inch in diameter.

An object of this invention is to provide a single unit for removing deleterious matter from fine particulate material such as gravel, sand or the like, in which the material is introduced into a series of fiumes having a relatively wide inlet and a relatively narrow outlet operable to cause the lighter weight foreign matter to be removed from the particulate material at a separating station comprising a part of the unit and wherein the particulate matter is further subjected to a predetermined number of tapered fiumes and separator stations to remove clay, shale, lignite and other foreign matter from the particulate material.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an apparatus for washing fine gravel, sand and the like, wherein the feeder operates in response to the amount of particulate material stored therein whereby particulate material is discharged in such a way that the fiumes are maintained at high capacity at all times during operation.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a skimmer assembly disposed at the outlet of each of the tapered fiumes and adapted to change position relative to changes in flow of particulate material through the flame whereby the skimmer blade is set at the optimum setting relative to particulate material flowing through each flume at all times.

3,387,709 Patented June 11, 1968 A further object of my invention is the provision of a new and improved material cleaning apparatus wherein the feeder, fiumes and separator station are of unitary construction and of simple and inexpensive construction and operation.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational schematic view of the apparatus showing the various parts and indicating the direction of fiow of material.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus showing the components thereof and the direction of the flow of material.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevation of my apparatus showing a feeder, flume and separator station.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevation of my invention showing an alternate separator station.

Referring now to the drawing and more specifically to FIG. 1, it will be seen that one embodiment of the material treatment or cleaning unit, designated generally by the reference numeral 10, is there shown.

This cleaning unit 10 includes suitable supporting structure 11 on which is mounted a feeder assembly, indicated generally at numeral 12 which is supported by frame 13 which is mounted on frame 11. Material is supplied to feeder 12 by conveyor 14, which includes suitable supporting framework, in a slurry form the water having been properly premixed with the particulate material prior to being conveyed to feeder 12. Feeder 12 dispenses the particulate material through a plurality of chutes 15, which in turn direct particulate material to a first group of four tapered fiumes 16.

A first group of four separator stations 17 separates the material fed from the feeder 12 into sound and unsound material. The unsound material is indicated by numeral 18 and is indicated flowing in the direction of the arrows. The sound material is indicated at 19 and flows as indicated by the arrows. The unsound material 18 is then combined from the first group of four fiumes into a second group of two flumes 20. Separator stations 21 further divide the material 18 into sound and unsound material with the unsound material indicated by numeral 22 and the sound material indicated by numeral 23. The unsound discharge from flumes 20 are combined into a final single flume 24. Separator 24a may be set very accurately to finally remove the remaining deletrious material thereby providing highly reliable sound material. The sound material is indicated by numeral 25 and flows to a receiving hopper or dehydrator 26 from which it is conveyed as desired. The unsound material is indicated by numeral 27 :and flows, in the direction of the arrow, to a storage hopper 28 for subsequent disposal.

Referring to FIG. 2, my apparatus is shown in side elevation and is indicated at numeral 10. The incline of the tapered fiumes 16 and 20 and 24 respectively is shown schematically. The incline is typically 17 but, of course, the incline as well as the taper, may be varied to achieve optimum operating characteristics. The sound material 19 from first separator station 17 flows as indicated in the schematic diagram to dehydrator 26. Sound material 23 from the second separator station 21 flows as indicated and joins sound material 25 from the third separator station 24a and into receiving bin 26. The unsound material from the final flume 24 is conveyed to hopper 28 for subsequent disposal. The setting at the separating stations 17, 21, and 24a may be set to achieve varying quality material.

FIG. 3 shows a feeder 12 discharging into a flume 16, separator station 17 and control eqripment which separates unsound material 18 from sound material 19. A portion of the supporting framework for the flames is shown and is indicated by numeral 11. For purposes of clarity the supporting structure for the feeder and the details of the supporting structure for the fiumes is not shown.

Feeder 12 consists of a hopper 29 which receives material from conveyor 14 which typically pumps the material to be cleaned, with the water included, into the hopper 29. Hopper 29 is mounted on coil springs to provide shiftable movement in response to the material which is supplied to the hopper by the conveyor. The downward postion of the filled bin 29 compresses the spring and causes spout 30 to reopen allowing material to flow into flume 16. Battles 31 are provided to distribute the material evenly across flume 16. When the hopper 29 is empty, it takes an upward position causing spout 30 to be closed thereby stopping the flow of material. The bin 29 may be mounted on coil springs which are commercially available and not shown here. The springs compress under the weight of the material supplied by conveyor 14 and the hopper, in the downward position engages a switch, which is not shown, which opens spout 30. A motor 32 actuates link 33 and subsequently links 33a which is mounted in actuating relation thereon. Link 34, which is pivoted on the hopper 29 by stationary arm 35, pivots at pivot point 36 in response to link 33a. A plug 37 is mounted on arm 34 and engages spout 30 in response to motor 32 which is actuated by the downward or upward position of the hopper. Of course, other means of opening spout 30 may be used such as an air or hydraulic ram which is responsive to the position of the hopper 29. It is important to note that spout 30 is closed by plug 37 at all times that the hopper is not in the downward position. It is then wide open so that home 16 receives a full amount of material or none at all. This provides optimum operation of the flumes without a decrease in capacity. Typically, one feeder feeds a chute which discharges into each flume. A single hopper may be used with separate feeders at the bottoms thereof to automatically feed and direct the material into a chute or chutes which subsequently feed flumes.

An overflow weir 38 is shown mounted on hopper 29 adapted to receive overflow water. A tube 39 directs the overflow water into flume 16 to provide additional water to the flume.

Flume 16 receives the material to be cleaned in a slurry with a suitable amount of water mixed in. Flume 16 includes a generally wide portion at the inlet end and converges to a relatively narrow outlet portion. The fiume is provided with suitable side walls and is pivotally mounted on framework 11 at pivot point 40. As the material is forced to converge by the side walls of the flume 16, the depth of the bed becomes thicker, causing the material to stratify with lighter particles at the upper layers and heavier particles at the lower layers. Flow is in the direction indicated by the arrow. Of course, several flumes may be used and vary in size and degree of incline. The size or incline depends upon the material which is being cleaned and the quality desired in the cleaned material. Although I have shown a system utilizing a group of four fiurnes reducing the material into two domes and subsequently into one flume, other groupings may be made utilizing different combinations. Several banks may be used with several groups per bank. In some instances it is advantageous to use fewer cleaning stages. For example, in cases of a high percentage of shale within the sand, two stages of flumes would be more appropriate. When separating the unsound shale from the sound sand, the first stage would result in unsound material having an exceedingly high shale content and corresponding low sand content. Therefore, it may not be practical or economical to process the overflow or the unsound material after the unsound material reaches a predetermined high percentage of unsound material and corresponding low percentage of sound material, for example, after the second stage. In this case, a third stage would be omitted. Of course, percentage of waste of sound material would increase as the number of stages are decreased.

Flume l6 responds to the weight of material in the flume and moves to a downward position in response thereto. In this downward position, a sw' ch, not shown, is contacted and actuates motor 41. This controls jack screw 42. Motor and jack screw are mounted on support arm 43 which is attached top the flume 16. When the flume is filled with material from the feeder, it drops to its downward position, contacts a switch thereby actuating the motor. The motor in turn moves jack shaft 42 in a position which locates skimmer or fiat plate 44 in a predetermined position to skim off unsound material 18 from the sound material 19. counterweight 45 maintains llume 16 in an upward position until such time as the fiume is filled with material from feeder 12. The counterweight is shown in its upward position, the position which it takes when the flume 16 is filled. Skimmer 44 is shown in its operative position to skim off unsound material 18 and direct it into a second flume 20. Skimmer 44 is disposed in a housing 45 which abuts flume 16. The housing is maintained in proper relation with respect to flume 16 by clips 46 and springs 47 which maintain the housing and skimmer in tight fitting relation relative to fiurne 16. Link 48 is pivotally connected to housing 45 and translates movement from shaft 42 through pivoted floating link 49 to raise or lower the housing and skimmer 45 and 44 respectively. Floating link 49 is pivotally mounted on support 5%) which is attached to flurne 16. Additional control links 51 and 52 are also shown, with link 52 mounted on stationary point 53 to activate motor control 54. A support 55 allows the counterweight 45 to pivot at pivot point 56.

When the spout 30 is opened in response to a full load within hopper 29, the skimmer 44 is in the inoperative position, directing all material into a following flume 20. As the material in fiume 16 builds up, the fiume moves downwardly against the weight of the counterweight. This actuates switch 54 through links 51 and 52, which in turn operates motor 41 through conventional electric circuitry thereby raising skimmer 44 and housing 45 gradually. This results in, during initial flow, skimming a great deal of material from fiume 16 and, as flow progresses to a constant level, the skimmer continues to be raised gradually to a predetermined position, skimming off approximately 50% of the material. In this way, a minimum of material is wasted and yet the percentage of sound material remains constant. When spout 30 is closed, flow immediately stops and fiume 16 raises since the counterweight overbalances flume 16. As the flume raises to an upward position, the motor 41 is reversed and through the linkages and jack screw urges skimmer 44 downwardly gradually thereby continuing to skim off the unsound material while wasting a minimum of material as flow decreases. The skimmer resumes its inoperative position, skimming off all material and directing it to a subsequent flume. In this way, the sound material is not contaminated by the unsound material as it would be if the skimmer maintained a permanent position relative to the material flowing through the fiume at start-up and shut-down times.

FIG. 4 shows a modified embodiment of my invention. A flume 16' is shown in the operative position by the solid lines, and in equilibrium inoperative position by the dotted lines. Material is shown flowing through fiurne 16' which is pivoted at the upper, wide portion, not shown in the drawing. A- supporting beam 57 is shown supporting the lower, narrow portion of the flume 16'. Eye bolt 58 is secured to beam 57 by adjustable assembly 59. A spring 60 biases flume 16' in its upward position, indicated by the dotted lines. Spring 60 is attached to the flume at bracket 61. A lower bracket 62 receives a pivotally mounted link 63 which is attached to the housing 45' which houses skimmer 44. An upper link 64 is pivotally attached to bracket 61 and, in turn, to housing 45. This attachment allows movement of flume 16' relative to the stationary housing and skimmer blade 45' and 44 respectively. A supporting link 65 is also shown supporting housing 45' in a predetermined position.

Flume 20 is shown receiving unsound material indicated by numeral 18'. The sound material is indicated by 19 and flows as shown by the arrows to a dehydrator. Flume 20 receives material 18'.

As flow from the feeder builds up within flume 16, the weight of the material within the flume places spring 60 under tension and, through the brackets and links between the flume and skimmer, allows the flume to gradually resume a lower position relative to the skimmer 44'. Consequently, as the material builds up, the skimmer gradually raises in the stream of flowing material, skimming off a substantially constant percentage of the deleterious material within the flume 16. As flow of material decreases, which results from a stoppage at the feeder, the skimmer blade 44 gradually descends relative to the stream of material flowing through the skimmer 16 and therefore continues to remove a substantially constant percentage of deleterious material, without wasting sound material.

In operation, I plan to utilize a first group of four flumes which will split the material on a 50/50 basis. The flumes cause the light material to rise and the heavy sound material to settle. The underfiow will go to the dehydrator 26 as a finished product, and the overflow 18 will go to a next group of flumes 2.0. Since the split is on a 50/50 basis, the second set of flumes should be half the number of the first set of flumes. Therefore the second set of flumes 20 comprises two flumes which receive the same amount of material per flume which passed through the flume 16. Plumes 20 again split the material on a 50/50 basis with the sound material going to the dehydrator and unsound material going to the next flume 24. After the first and second set of flumes have performed their separation, 75% of the total feed has been eliminated and is a finished product. Twenty-five percent of the total feed remains to be processed by the final skimmer. If a 50/50 setting at the final flume is used, a waste of 12 /2% results which is considered the deleterious, unsound material. More sensitive settings may be made if desired. Experience indicates that a flume which is 16 inches Wide at the feed end and 16 feet long will handle 6 tons per hour. An apparatus such as described above with a three stage system, may contain seven flumes. Four flumes are in the first stage, two flumes in the second and one in the third. Of course, several banks may be used to increase the capacity of the plant. For example, four banks would result in a total of 28 flumes. Considering a 100 ton per hour capacity, and 28 flumes, the dehydrator receives 50 tons from the first group of flumes and during the first hour of operation. At the end of the second set of flumes, the dehydrator receives an additional 25 tons per hour for processing and which amounts to 75 of the total feed. An additional 12 /2 tons is received at the dehydrator after the final flume if the setting is at 50%. Therefore, the dehydrator receives 87 /2% of the total feed. I have found, utilizing my skimmer method, that the final material contains only /2 of 1 percent deleterious material, well within specifications of the strictest type.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a unitary material cleaning apparatus which eliminates the need for a close skimmer setting. Further, my apparatus cuts down the amount of waste of good material and lends itself to better automatic control. The power requirements are at a minimum and there is nothing to grease. A minimum of water need be added to the system since the system uses the regular wash water. There are a minimum of wear parts in my apparatus and there are no screens, no steel balls, no punched plates, no diaphragm, no heavy shafting and no bearings. Further, the apparatus of my invention, since it is fully automatic, does not require a full time attendant.

Since there is a minimum of apparatus and wearing parts involved, the apparatus of my design is not only high in capacity but is low in initial cost and high in quality of material produced thereby. Unlike conventional material cleaning devices, my apparatus tends to retain the finer particles of sand and rejects some of the larger sizes along with the deleterious mate-rials. This is particularly important in that the fine materials contribute to the sound ness of the material separated by the splitters. Conventional machines waste a high percentage of the finer sands along with the reject material and, in fact, reject a higher percentage of sound materials in their operation.

It will be understood that various flume configurations may be used, as well as variations in the angle of the flume. Further, air, hydraulic or electric controls may be used to move the flumes to respond to the material within the flume, or to move the splitter in response to material within the flume. The flume may remain stationary with the splitter moving relative to the flume. On the other hand, the splitter may remain stationary with the flume moving relative thereto. It is also understood that a plurality of banks of flumes may be used, as well as a plurality of layers or groups of flumes.

It will also be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Material cleaning apparatus for cleaning particulate material such as gravel, ore, and the like, comprising a support frame,

a feeder device mounted on said frame and adapted to direct and control flow of particulate material therefrom,

an elongate generally channel shaped inclined, tapered flume, including a substantially flat lower wall having side walls atfixed thereto and extending upwardly therefrom, said side walls converging downwardly from an upper inlet end toward a lower outlet end, means pivotally mounting the upper end of said flume on said frame for pivotal movement about a substantially transverse horizontal axis, means supporting the lower end portion of said flume to permit vertical movement thereof relative to said frame, said inlet end of the flume disposed adjacent said feeder means to receive material therefrom,

a housing positioned at the lower outlet end of said flume, linkage means extending between and connecting said housing with the lower end of said flume to permit relative vertical movement between said housing and said flume, said housing and flume being shiftable relative to each other between operative and inoperative positions,

a substantial flat skimmer plate in said housing disposed in substantial parallel relation to the lower wall of said flume, said skimmer plate being disposed above the lower wall of the flume when the flume and the housing are in the operative position to cause the Stratified flowing stream of particulate material to be separated into upper and lower streams of material as the material is discharged from the outlet end of the flume,

said skimmer plate being disposed at a lower elevation than in said operative position when said flume and housing are in said inoperative position and thereby causing the material discharged from the outlet end of the flume to flow over the skimmer plate as a single stream of material,

7 8 and means normally urging said flume and housing to References Cited the inoperative position. UNITED STATES PATENTS 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is vertically shiftable relative to said fiume. 21014291 9/1935 Rfaed 209499 X 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 and power means 5 7/1939 Bud 209-499 X mounted on said fiume and operatively connected with 2579'110 12/1951 Drelon 2O9491 X said linkage to cause power shifting of said housing be- 2780356 2/1957 Hobart 209 493 X tween said operative and inoperative positions. 2875898 3/1959 Spencer 2O9 499 X 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said 1000502 9/1961 Hobarf 209458 feeder means is mounted on said frame for vertical shift- 10 31235381 2/1966 Hendnckson 209499 X ing movement relative thereto in response to a change of weight of the material to be cleaned contained in said HARRY THORNTON Pnma'y Examine" feeder means, said feeder means discharging material to TIM R. MILES, Examiner. the inlet of said fiume. 

